Colorful Goat Cheese Appetizers

Last weekend I was strollin' the aisles at Costco and stumbled upon a 2-pack of 10.5 oz goat cheese rolls for like $5 bucks. So I bought the darn thing. Why? Because it was a good deal, obviously. Sometimes my food blogger brain makes me do crazy things.

Naturally Sam gave me the look while I was unpacking the groceries. But I promised him I'd make good use of it. All of it.

Luckily, I had a pretty fun idea in mind. While we were in Europe for our honeymoon, we had some of the best goat cheese. It was covered in different "toppings" from fig jam to herbs. Oh the French and their cheese!

Taking cue from this experience, I took a stab at making my own flavored goat cheese – in bite size pieces. Because bite size is always fun.

My toppings included some traditional flavors – chives, dried apricots and dried cranberries – and one that was a little experimental: maple syrup and bacon. And the experiment was a total success. Then again, it's not often that bacon is ever wrong.

I'm definitely adding this to my list of go-to party recipes. It's super easy to make and so colorful. The best part? You can get creative with your own flavors and topping combinations.

... And in case you were wondering, I've used the goat cheese in several recipes like this Roasted Butternut Squash salad, but there is still half a roll left. Perhaps Sam was right this time...

Colorful Goat Cheese Appetizer

Makes 8-10 pieces but can easily be modified

Goat cheese, 5-6 oz roll
2 cups of various toppings, diced (ex: dried cranberries, dried apricots, fresh chives, cooked bacon)
Toothpicks

Roll goat cheese into balls with your hands (get messy!) using about 1/2 a tablespoon of cheese per piece. Roll in desired toppings. For maple bacon bites, dip goat cheese in maple syrup before rolling in bacon. Insert toothpick and enjoy.